Demonstrations disrupt Olympic torch relay

April 08, 2008

PARIS (AP) - From start to finish, there was no respite from the protests. Only moments after the first Olympic torchbearer began his descent down the Eiffel Tower, a protester shouted ''Freedom for the Chinese!'' and lunged toward the flame. The torch hadn't even reached solid ground yet - it was still on the tower's first floor - and already havoc had broken out at Monday's torch rally in Paris. Later, protesters booed trucks emblazoned with the names of Olympic corporate sponsors. They chained themselves to railings. They hurled water at the flame and hung banners depicting the Olympic rings as handcuffs from atop the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame cathedral. Eventually, Chinese organizers simply gave up: They canceled the final third of what they had envisioned as a triumphant jog past world famous landmarks like the Louvre, the Seine River bridges and the Place de la Concorde. They put the torch on board a bus and sent it to its final destination, a sports stadium. Citywide, the thousands of demonstrators slowed the relay to a stop-start crawl, with impassioned displays of anger over China's holding of the Olympic Games, its grip on Tibet and human rights failings, defying 3,000 officers - some deployed in jogging gear and inline skates. Police tackled protesters who ran at the torch. At least two activists got almost within arm's length before they were grabbed by police. Near the Louvre, police grabbed a protester who approached the flame with a fire extinguisher. Activists have been protesting along the route since the flame embarked on its 85,000-mile journey from Ancient Olympia in Greece to the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Olympics.